Glass bottles play a significant role in the wine industry. The company Verallia is the largest producer of glass bottles in Europe. They have seven factories around the French wine regions and have close contact with the winegrowers.
The company is heavily involved in environmental issues, a necessity for a company whose product accounts for a not insignificant part of the wine industry’s carbon dioxide emissions. They work actively to increase the recycling of glass and the use of lightweight bottles.
Verallia also rewards sustainability projects among wine producers through a special fund. Most recently (2021), the company awarded four prizes: The Cave de Lugny (Burgundy) for developing the biodiversity in the vineyard and La Cave Saint Maurice (IGP Cévennes) for preserving the habitat of pollinating insects.
The two other winners were Château Sainte Roseline (Provence), where they are doing research on the symbiosis between fungi and the roots of the vine that aims at reducing spraying and irrigation, and Les Vignerons Associés des Monts de Bourgogne for their organic range that is sustainable throughout the process.
Read more: Verallia.
Read: Read our book on organic and sustainable wine.
